What are your days like? If you have young kids like I do, they’re probably filled with snack prep and hand washing, diaper changing and bathroom breaks, toy cleanup and dirty laundry. It’s not often that a mom of three living in central Maine has a reason to get dressed up and spend a night out […]
It Was Just a Set of Steps
It was just a set of steps. Three or four granite slabs set into the side of a grassy hill. The steps didn’t lead anywhere. In fact, you could skip them entirely simply by walking up the hill beside them only to be met with more hill beyond. They sat close to the edge of the […]
Nine Reasons My Sons Didn’t Wash Their Hands
If you’re a boy mom, you’ve probably dealt with your fair share of grossness. Boys just have a different sense of cleanliness than girls and they’re not afraid to admit it. One area in which my sons and I don’t see eye to eye is regarding the issue of hand washing after bathroom usage. […]
When the Birth of My Child Meant the Death of My Dream
I was the pregnant woman all the other pregnant women love to hate. Not a stitch of morning sickness, perfect weight gain, a little basketball belly. I wondered at every flutter and kick and eagerly awaited each doctor’s appointment. Textbooks could have used me as their poster child. When the Birth of My Child Meant the Death of […]
Quiz: What’s Your Parenting Super Power?
To Samuel, On Your Fifth Birthday
Dear Samuel, This has been a year of transition for you. Last summer I was pretty nervous about how things would go when you started preschool in the fall. You’d done a lot of growing during ‘Mommy School’ and then the fun school you spent an hour at a couple of times each week, but […]
13 Milestones I Wish I’d Known About
We all know the milestones to eagerly watch for: First smile, rolling over, first steps. We wait for them to happen and carefully document them when they do (well, for the first kid at least). There are some milestones, though, that no one thinks to tell you about. They are just as momentous, in some […]
A Wedding, a Dress, and the First Fight of Marriage
There’s something magical about finding ‘the dress’. Maybe you’ve tried on dozens or maybe it’s the very first one you slip over your head, but as soon as it’s on, you know. Just like the moment you realize that guy is The One, you also realize that dress is The One. The one that makes […]
I Asked, You Answered: The Worst Gift You Ever Received
It’s happened to all of us. We excitedly pull the paper off a gift, open up the box to reveal the contents, and think, “Really?” Though most gifts are well-intentioned and I am not for a minute promoting ungratefulness, let’s face it, some miss the mark, and others can be downright comical. I asked my email subscribers […]
70+ Spaghetti Squash Recipes
Lately I’ve seen a lot of people using vegetables in place of pasta. Since my kids are big pasta eaters and we want to make healthier choices whenever we can, I was intrigued, but dubious. It sounded like a good idea, but I wasn’t sure I could get away with it, even if it was […]